Commodity Buyer

Are you ready to power your career with an industry leader? At Advanced Digital Cable, we don’t just keep up with the competition - we set the pace. As a premier manufacturer of wire and cable, we provide the literal "nervous system" for modern infrastructure, and we do it better than anyone else. We utilize the most advanced manufacturing technology and equipment available, ensuring you work in a high-tech, high-quality setting. We manufacture 100% of our products across four state-of-the-art U.S. locations. We are constantly expanding our capacity and developing new products, which means more opportunities for our team to grow and advance.

Position Summary:

The Commodity Buyer is responsible for securing high-quality raw materials and production commodities (including metals, plastics/resins, chemicals, packaging, and related components) required to manufacture our products. You serve as a professional negotiator and strategic relationship manager - identifying and developing the best suppliers, negotiating favorable contracts that protect against price volatility, and continuously monitoring incoming material quality and cost. Your goal is to ensure we have the right materials, at the right time, at the best total cost of ownership, while proactively communicating market-driven cost changes to internal stakeholders.

Key Duties & Responsibilities:

Strategic Sourcing & Negotiation

• Research, evaluate, and select suppliers for key commodity categories (metals, plastics/resins, chemicals, packaging materials, and critical components) that meet technical, quality, and capacity requirements.

• Negotiate pricing, payment terms, volume commitments, and long-term agreements that lock in competitive rates and mitigate exposure to commodity price fluctuations.

• Build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships with strategic suppliers to secure priority allocation, favorable lead times, and early visibility into market changes.

• Identify, qualify, and maintain approved secondary/backup suppliers for high-risk or single-source commodities to reduce supply disruption risk.

• Monitor commodity market indices, feedstock trends, and geopolitical factors that influence pricing; develop and execute hedging or forward-buying strategies where appropriate.

Quality Management

• Systematically evaluate supplier performance on delivery reliability, material quality, and cost competitiveness for assigned commodity categories.

• Verify that all purchased materials meet engineering specifications and customer requirements; lead root-cause analysis and corrective actions for non-conformances or quality issues.

• Ensure all procurement activities comply with applicable trade regulations, environmental standards, conflict-minerals reporting, and internal ISO 9001 quality management requirements.

• Maintain complete, audit-ready records of contracts, certificates of analysis/conformance, supplier qualifications, and purchasing history.

Operational Procurement & Inventory Support

• Create, issue, and track purchase orders in the ERP system (and CMMS where applicable for MRO-related commodities).

• Partner with Inventory, Planning, and Production teams to align order quantities and timing with demand forecasts, safety-stock targets, and production schedules - preventing both stock-outs and excess inventory.

• Serve as the primary contact for resolving pricing discrepancies, damaged or incorrect shipments, quality rejects, and billing issues related to commodity purchases.

• Communicate significant cost movements, supply risks, or market shifts to Finance, Engineering, and Operations in a timely manner.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Supply Chain Management, Materials Science, Engineering, or a related field preferred.

• 3–5 years of progressive procurement or commodity-buying experience, ideally within a manufacturing environment managing metals, plastics, chemicals, or packaging.

• Proven track record of negotiating multi-year commodity contracts and delivering measurable cost savings or cost avoidance.

• Strong working knowledge of commodity markets, price indices, and total cost of ownership analysis.

• Proficiency with ERP/procurement systems and advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, data analysis, basic forecasting).

• Excellent negotiation, interpersonal, and communication skills; ability to translate technical material requirements clearly to external suppliers.

• Demonstrated ability to analyze supplier performance data and drive corrective actions.

• CPSM, CIPS, or similar professional certification is a plus.

Compensation and Benefits: The salary range for this role is $60,000 to $67,000 and represents the base pay for this position; actual compensation will be determined by the candidate’s qualifications, years of relevant experience, and specific work location. This range is just one component of ADC’s total rewards package, which includes health and dental insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off and paid holidays.